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This board needs a clear mission statement


Guest DizzySpells

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A couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion about shutting down the Political Forum. If (and I emphasize if) there are board related behavioral issues that warrant steps being taken, that may be the place to start. First of all, let me say that I'm not sure I've ever really understood why a political forum needs to be part of any board that is, at least in theory, devoted to the appreciation of music. Lord knows, there are hundreds of other bulletin boards that exist exclusively to promote political discussion, so it's not like there aren't places to scratch that itch. Besides, who ever said Organissimo needs to be all things to all people?

Secondly, political discussion is, by it's very nature, polarizing. When incivility rears it's ugly head, which it inevitably does, my sense is that it can have a deliterious or enabling effect that has little to do with politics per se. Put more simply, it emboldens people to expand their confrontational attitudes beyond the confines of political debate.

Maybe that's all a bunch of hogwash, but maybe it's worth revisiting the need for this forum that's devoted to politics. I for one can live very easily with a board that's focused solely on music. Isn't that really why we're here?

Up over and out.

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Well, Dave, I do understand the reasons for having a political board on a forum devoted to music: some of us like to discuss politics with people we know, rather than strangers who think it's actually more important than the music. Or something like that. On the other hand, if it's causing a problem, I agree: dump it.

Unfortunately, yours is the first post in the thread that I've understood at all...

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A couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion about shutting down the Political Forum. If (and I emphasize if) there are board related behavioral issues that warrant steps being taken, that may be the place to start. First of all, let me say that I'm not sure I've ever really understood why a political forum needs to be part of any board that is, at least in theory, devoted to the appreciation of music. Lord knows, there are hundreds of other bulletin boards that exist exclusively to promote political discussion, so it's not like there aren't places to scratch that itch. Besides, who ever said Organissimo needs to be all things to all people?

Secondly, political discussion is, by it's very nature, polarizing. When incivility rears it's ugly head, which it inevitably does, my sense is that it can have a deliterious or enabling effect that has little to do with politics per se. Put more simply, it emboldens people to expand their confrontational attitudes beyond the confines of political debate.

Maybe that's all a bunch of hogwash, but maybe it's worth revisiting the need for this forum that's devoted to politics. I for one can live very easily with a board that's focused solely on music. Isn't that really why we're here?

Up over and out.

Why is the political forum the constant scapegoat for things going wrong on the board? Based on the events of the past several days, you'd be better off dumping everything else--the politics forum has been a model of civility and decorum compared to what's gone on in "Misc. Non-Political" and "Forums Discussion," not to mention some of the recent threads in "Artists." Seriously! Aric hardly ever posted in Politics. If it's not jazz-related, then by all means, let's dump it... let's get rid of the football threads. What do they have to do with jazz? How about the various cooking threads that spring up? The weather--wtf do I care what it's doing in southern Florida? Right, I'm being sarcastic, but I'm just saying that a number of posters have a significant interest in politics... why should that be censored, particulary when it's been cordoned off and hidden from the rest of the board?

The Politics forum is now completely invisible unless posters are members and logged in. Even then, posters can still choose to have it blocked. Very little of the vitriol I've seen lately stemmed from Politics, and it carried over only when a couple of posters still honked at Che about a particular thread started lobbing remarks at him in non-political threads. Whatever people think about Che, he's not the one who brought that discussion outside of the Politics forum... so why not call for rapping the knuckles of those who dragged it in?

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p.s. Flurin, I was so intimidated by you that I posted my BFT 23 Disc Two answers without proofreading. You are a bully. I am a wimp. I will gladly pay you today for two hamburgers tomorrow. Only kidding. Maybe you know what's going on?

Time to deliver those hamburgers, buster!

ubu (hungry as a, well, guess, not a polka-dotted giraffe, for sure...) :P

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Based on the events of the past several days, you'd be better off dumping everything else--the politics forum has been a model of civility and decorum compared to what's gone on in "Misc. Non-Political" and "Forums Discussion,"

You're absolutely correct!! IMO, the forum to get rid of is this angst ridden one. This is the place that all the Jr. tinkerers and micro-managers come to carp and give us their latest 'suggestions' and grand visions about how this little BB of a world should be run. You want to talk about "polarization" and "uncivility rearing it's ugly head", then look no further than the forum discussion water cooler where folks routinely gather to point fingers, gnash teeth, etc.. A wide variety of opinions about Marsalis, Bush and Krispy Kreme donuts is one thing..........bodies hovering around the conference table, latest edition of 'Blueprint for Successful Board Management' in hand, is quite another.

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Based on the events of the past several days, you'd be better off dumping everything else--the politics forum has been a model of civility and decorum compared to what's gone on in "Misc. Non-Political" and "Forums Discussion,"

You're absolutely correct!! IMO, the forum to get rid of is this angst ridden one. This is the place that all the Jr. tinkerers and micro-managers come to carp and give us their latest 'suggestions' and grand visions about how this little BB of a world should be run. You want to talk about "polarization" and "uncivility rearing it's ugly head", then look no further than the forum discussion water cooler where folks routinely gather to point fingers, gnash teeth, etc.. A wide variety of opinions about Marsalis, Bush and Krispy Kreme donuts is one thing..........bodies hovering around the conference table, latest edition of 'Blueprint for Successful Board Management' in hand, is quite another.

:tup:tup:tup:tup

Right here, you have a good illustration that political discussion does not have to lead to enmity. People seemed (jokingly) to think it was a sign of the apocalypse that I gave a big :tup to Berigan in another one of these threads, and that Chuck Nessa and Dan Gould agreed, but... hey. A lot of us like and respect each other, and can respectfully disagree.

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GhostBusters II was a bad movie.  However, Ghostbusters, the original, is one of the best movies ever made.  I probably think that because it was one of the first movies I ever saw in the theatre when I was a kid! :)

Same thing w/Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000.

....and Caddyshack and Caddyshack 2.

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